In sometimes small, unheralded ways, we continue to see the positive impact of having women working at all levels of government but especially at the top. But in this instance, it is about THIS particular woman - Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Follow me now...
The Washington Post has a really great article about the positive effect of Hillary Clinton as our Secretary of State is having on women's diplomatic visibility from other countries, including and especially those that traditionally may not accord women equal status in their societies.
In the gated Oman Embassy off Massachusetts Avenue, Washington's first female ambassador from an Arab country, Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, sat at her desk looking over a speech aimed at erasing misconceptions about her Muslim nation.
A few blocks away inside a stately Dupont Circle mansion, India's first female ambassador in more than 50 years, Meera Shankar, huddled with top aides after her prime minister's state visit with President Obama.
Nearby, in a century-old residence with its own ballroom, Latin America's only female ambassador in Washington, Colombia's Carolina Barco, dashed back from talking up free trade on Capitol Hill to showcase her country's culture and
There have been three female SOSs in the last three administrations (including this one), and this the first time that there have been this many female ambassadors to the US from other countries. There are a total of 25 currently which is five times as many as there were in the early 1990s.
Eleven of the 25 female envoys in Washington are from Africa. Four are from Caribbean nations. The others are from Bahrain, the Netherlands, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Oman, Colombia, India, Liechtenstein and Nauru, an eight-square-mile Pacific island with only 14,000 people.
While Madeleine Albright (as the first female SOS) and (to a lesser degree) Condolezza Rice had a great effect on the perception of women as ambassadors and international representatives of their countries, Hillary's effect is even greater because of her previous visibility and support of women's issues globally as First Lady, her time as a U.S. Senator and her ultimate glass-ceiling cracking presidential campaign.
It's interesting (and even somewhat shocking) to note that even today
Many said they are still often bypassed in receiving lines and the male standing beside them is greeted as "Mr. Ambassador."
The article has many interesting and thought-provoking items, but the other one that stands out is the idea that having "gender diversity" at the top makes for better decision making. The women bring a different perspective than their male counterparts and often ave a different focus - rights of women and girls, poverty, education, health.
It's a great article, you should go and read it.
I leave you with this - male ambassadors are typically accompanied by their family (wife and children) and the wife usually is the planner/coordinator/arranger of diplomatic soirees, etc. Female ambassadors typically are not accompanied by husbands - some are divorced and the husbands of others stayed at the jobs they currently have. So Madam Ambassadors have to do the diplomatic dance AND be the entertainer/planner powerhouse. As some of them said..."We need a wife, too!" Hmmm? I'll let you decide what that says, but it strikes me that maybe they need some social secretaries in those embassies, no?